


Why You Should Never Walk Up A Mountain In Winter

by Rulerofthecosmosandsnails



Category: RWBY
Genre: Beowolves, Dragon Grimm, Experiment, Experiment gone wrong, F/F, I Wish Somebody Would Care For Me Like Ruby Does To Weiss, Lesbians, Transformation, Unnamed Grimm, Useless Lesbians, look i turned the gay up to eleven, mostly weiss tbh, mutant - sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 06:19:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14970896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofthecosmosandsnails/pseuds/Rulerofthecosmosandsnails
Summary: Team RWBY didn't necessarily know what they were getting into when they took this job. Hunting Grimm in the wild was a peace of cake compared to what they normally did, but hunting Grimm on a snowy mountain in the middle of winter? Not so fun now, is it? Plus, there's the myth that keeps going around, about a giant monster that blocks out the sun, but it's just a myth, right?





	1. Chapter 1

Team RWBY was in a bit of a rough patch. Wading through snow and ice was one thing, but wading through snow and ice uphill, when a blizzard was blowing hurricane-level winds pushing you back was not the best thing to be doing. Ruby Rose would have preferred to be inside, watching the snow swirl around the house, probably with hot chocolate and a plate of cookies, or three.

But, unfortunately, they had taken the job at the worst possible time, in the winter of all seasons. Apparently, it was the only time the Grimm appeared, and Ruby was cursing it with all her five-foot-two being.  The others weren’t fairing that well either, with Yang and Blake bundled up together to conserve warmth. Ruby offered the same treatment to Weiss, but the older girl’s cheeks just turned a deeper red and shook her head, drawing her white-and-light-blue parka tighter around her.

Ruby was beginning to think that she should have insisted, since it was getting colder and colder with each passing minute. She drew her blood-red cloak around her body, stumbling up the snowy path. Her feet had passed numb long ago and were bordering on frozen, and while she stuck her hands in her armpits, she was beginning to feel them freeze.

“Come on guys!” she shouted back to them, “Just a couple hundred more feet and we’re there!”

“Wish there was a ski lift,” Yang grumbled, “Oh wait, the monster destroyed it!”

“Come on, Yang!” Ruby said, “It’s not that far!”

“Yeah, for you!” Yang shouted back, “You have a speed semblance!”

Ruby paused for a moment, and shouted back, “You have a point!”

She faintly heard a grumble come from Yang, but she ignored it and trudged on. She was worried that if they stopped, they would never start again.

After a half-an-hour of slugging through snow, ice, and tripping over the occasional tree root, they were at the clearing where the Grimm was said to appear. They huddled into a circle, partially to plan their attack and partially for warm.

“O-Okay,” Ruby said, “Wh-What’s the p-plan?”

“I s-say, we attack it from all sides, and then once we find it’s weak spot, BAM!” Yang said, punching the air with her fist, “We d-deliver the final blow!”

“N-No, we should t-toy with it, and try to j-judge it’s weakness,” Weiss countered, “If w-we can find it’s w-weakness, then we should be able t-to t-take it down n-no problem.”

“I th-think we should scope out the area first,” Blake said, looking behind them, “Th-That way, we have an advantage if it’s unaware that we’re here, and we c-can take it by surprise.”

“G-Good idea, Blake,” Weiss said, “If we can ob-observe it without it noticing, then we can try to find it’s weak point!”

“And beat the crap out of it!” Yang exclaimed, punching the air again. Weiss hurriedly shushed her.

“We don’t want any sudden noises,” Weiss said, “It might attract the Grimm before we’re ready.”

Yang looked a little put-out, but nodded.

“Al-Alright, l-let’s go!” Ruby said, taking off in one direction. She heard Weiss yelp, and realized she accidentally activated her semblance. She sped towards the group, stopping right in front of them as she muttered, “Sorry…”

“It’s fine, just don’t do it again,” Weiss said, crossing her arms, “Let’s go.”

Ruby lead the way again, just slower than she had before. She took them through the trees, trying to find the Grimm. They were told it was big, bigger than anything they’d ever seen, but they could only catch glimpses of the giant monster. The townsfolk down at the village they entered said it was black, and had monstrous teeth and giant red eyes. Some said that spikes littered it’s back, but others said that it had giant wings that blocked out the sun. Some said it had eaten the sun, with how dark the world became when it showed up.

Some said it was a snake, the others called it a dark phoenix, but the reports were the same in one aspect. The world went dark when it appeared, like a sudden, supernatural eclipse.

“Is that it?” Weiss muttered, pushing her way through snowy bushes.

The other team members hurried to her side, eager to see what she had observed. The Grimm was large, but not block-out-the-sun large. Ruby figured that the townspeople tended to exaggerate, so she let that part of the story slide. It was probably dark when they saw it, that was all.

“No sudden movements,” Weis muttered, drawing closer to the large creature.

Suddenly, as if by sheer spite, Ruby felt a small tickle grow in her nose. She tried to stamp it out by rubbing her nose, but it only grew stronger. Her breath hitched once, twice, and she let loose a monster of a sneeze, echoing around the forest.

Everybody jumped and turned to glare at her, and Ruby just smiled nervously.

“Ruby!” Weiss whisper-shouted, “What the heck?!”

“I’m sorry!” Ruby said, “It just snuck up on me! It’s not my fault!”

A huge growl rippled around the clearing, and Ruby turned to find the Grimm awake and not happy about it. It looked around with beady red eyes and roared at them, charging into the forest. Team RWBY yelped and ran, everyone somehow as fast as Ruby when she was using her semblance. It was probably the adrenaline.

They hit the clearing, forming a circle to watch all sides of the forest. For a moment, it was dead silent, except for the sounds of heavy breathing. Then, the Grimm crashed through the trees, charging recklessly at them. Apparently, it did not like being woken up.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Ruby shouted, racing towards the monster and meeting it head-on. She screeched a shrill battle cry as she hit the Grimm on the head with her scythe. It howled and batted her away, and luckily, she managed to jump out of its grip before it could do any major damage. She rolled the landing, popping up covered in snow.

Another cry across the field, much deeper than her own, and Ruby smirked slightly as she recognized it as Yang’s. The older girl slammed into the Grimm with all her force, which knocked it off balance a little. This was enough for Weiss to get below it and set off a Bomb Glyph, blowing the creature onto its back.

Unfortunately, the monster recovered fast, and was angrier than it was hurt. It roared and snapped at them, Weiss yelping as she ran to get out of the way. Ruby sprinted to the creature, covering the distance in two seconds flat, and swept her scythe at its front legs.

It let out a roar of pain, slapping Ruby away. She tried to get away, but it was too late. The Grimm caught the tail-end of her cape, and she was launched to the side, off the mountain. She heard Wiess shout, but her own screech was lost in the wind as she fell, and she could only imagine the splat at the end of the descent. Her eyes pricked with tears that were not from the wind. She didn’t want to die, not yet. She had so much to live for.

Still, she closed her eyes and fell, saying prayers to any deity that would listen. Please, let her see Yang again. Blake, too. Weiss would probably scold her for being so reckless, but she really cared, deep down. Ruby smiled softly as the wind whipped violently through her red-and-black hair, as she said one last goodbye to the people she loved.

She felt her body slam into something, and it hurt like hell. But she was still alive? She opened her eyes just a crack, and found that she was going up and up and up towards the mountain. Fate, it seemed, had thrown her a bone.

She could feel something warm behind her, and wondered if she was dreaming, or dead. But her front was still cold as ice, and she was dangling uncomfortably by something. She tried to twist in the thing’s grip, but found she could only flail her limbs about. Plus, the warmth was making her sleepy, and she just really wanted to take a nap.

Something shouted, and Ruby realized that she had stopped going up, and was now falling and rising in a rhythm she found a little comforting and a lot sickening. Her eyes focused in the blizzard, and she found her friends still fighting the Grimm, but Weiss was looking straight at her. Ruby could faintly make out a horrified expression on her face, but Ruby was too tired to care.

The last thing she heard was a roar of fear, before her eyes slipped shut and she drifted off into dreamland.


	2. yote

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby meets someone a little special and I'm kind of shit at world building

Ruby woke up many times, all a little more coherent than the last. She faintly remembered something rising and falling in motion, but it didn’t seem like she was flying anymore. It was more like she was sleeping on a large animal, a large, warm animal that she didn’t want to get off.

The next time she woke up, she was not moving. It was still warm, but there was a thin layer of cloth covering what seemed to be a rock floor. Ruby, too tired to question it, rolled over and fell back asleep.

The next awakenings were kind of a blur that Ruby couldn’t put together. All she remembered was a pair of glowing red eyes, and an inky blackness that lulled her back to sleep.

Finally, she was coherent enough to wake up fully, though she didn’t want to. She sat up, yawned and stretched, and looked around.

She was in a cave, surrounded by luminescent stones. She marveled at the colors for a moment, ranging from blue, to green, to even a soft purple. It really was quite pretty to look at, and she got up to try to touch them. Her legs almost buckled underneath her, but she stubbornly wouldn’t let her balance falter.

The blanket slipped down around her shoulders, and Ruby found that she was completely naked, except for her underwear and bra. She yelped and covered herself up with the blanket, even if it was a little more uncomfortable in the heat of the cave.

She reached out to touch them, and found that they were slightly cool to the touch. She drew back her hand in shock as the stone began to change from a baby blue to a soft orange. Curiously, she touched it again, and found that she could turn the whole stone a soft pink if she kept her hand on long enough.

Something shifted at the corner of her vision, before a blast of frigid air came from the mouth of the cave. She shuddered and ran to hide behind one of the stones. She poked her head out to see who, or what, it was, and came face to face with a pair of large red eyes and a large pointed snout with a white bone-mask.

It drew back, and Ruby could see the countless scars littering the creature’s neck as it looked down upon her. She made a noise between a growl and a squeak, and reached for Crescent Rose. She found that it was not there, since she was just in her underclothes and a blanket. Her face paled as she looked upon the Dragon Grimm with no means to protect herself.

The Dragon Grimm drew away suddenly, and she took a step back as it kept its red eyes on her. A small, brave part of Ruby’s brain told her that its eyes weren’t full of hate and agony like the other Grimm’s eyes were. She ignored that part of her brain, as it could most likely get her killed.

It suddenly began to shrink, growing fleshy appendages and hair before her very eyes. A moment ago, she was staring at one of the most fearsome Grimms that ever walked this earth. Now, she was staring at a woman, much taller than herself, with a white-and-black cloak that flowed softly with each movement that she made. Upon her head was a set of glittering white horns, a contrast between her deep black hair and grey face.

Her almond-shaped red eyes looked upon her not with malice, but with something like concern. Ruby shook her head, Grimms couldn’t feel any emotion besides anger or fear, why should this one?

The woman took a step towards her, and Ruby took another step back.

Unable to keep her voice from shaking slightly, Ruby called out, “Wh-What are you?”

The Grimm-lady did not answer, just drew closer to the younger girl. Ruby backed up as far as she could, hitting the wall and trying to sink through it. The Grimm just kept walking towards her, hands open, as if to signify no weapons. Once she was nearly a foot-and-a-half away, she stopped, and reached a hand towards Ruby’s shoulder.

The girl drew back and whimpered, and the Grimm stopped, before continuing. Ruby stood stock-still as she drew back the blanket to reveal the newly-damaged shoulder that lay beneath. The woman clicked her tongue and drew back, hesitantly taking Ruby’s arm. She checked back to see if she was okay, but Ruby just stared at her. The woman just sighed quietly and tugged at her arm, leading her back to the cloth-covered ground she woke up in.

“What are you?” Ruby asked, as she was being sit down on the cloth, “I mean, I thought Grimm’s were ruthless hunters, beings of death and destruction, the almighty lifeform – “

“Your shoulder’s going to get infected if I don’t change the bandage,” the woman said softly, “Sit still, and don’t talk.”

“Wait, why is my shoulder infected?” Ruby asked, as the woman went and got the bandages, “And you still haven’t told me who you were!”

The woman suddenly appeared right in front of Ruby’s face, holding some white bandages. She slowly went to work, unwrapping her shoulder without a word. Ruby winced at the bandage being peeled off, but stood her ground. As the shoulder was wrapped once more, she started to jabber again.

“No, like, seriously, who are you?”

“Who are you?” The woman asked, her voice a rough mixture of shoes on gravel and sandpaper, “I saved you, I think you could stand to be politer. Though the caution is warranted.”

“Oh! Ruby. I’m Ruby Rose!” Ruby said, sticking out a hand, “Nice to meet you!”

The woman took her hand and shook it slowly, “Teba.”

“Well then, Teba…” Ruby said, trying out the name. While it didn’t slide off the tongue like butter, it did strike a feeling of homeliness in her, “What am I doing here? Where am I?”

“You’re in my cave,” Teba stated, “On the top of the mountain. As for why you’re here… I think you could guess that.”

“Is it because I fell off the mountain?” Ruby asked, trotting alongside the woman.

“No, Ruby, it’s because I wanted you here,” when Ruby didn’t react, Teba sighed and said, “Yes, it’s because you fell off the mountain.”

“Cool!” Ruby said, and Teba gave her a weird look. A sudden thought struck Ruby, and she gasped, “What about my teammates? You know, the ones on the mountain with me?”

“They’re fine,” Teba said, “They are very worried, though. Especially that white-haired one, though she showed it in the weirdest of ways…”

“Weiss was – is – worried about me?!” Ruby grinned excitedly as a faint blush settled over her cheeks, “Really?!”

“Yes, she was quite distraught,” Teba said, glancing back at her, “They all are.”

“Well then, let’s go!” Ruby said, “I need to get back to my team!”

“What are you doing on this mountain, anyways?” Teba asked, effectively diverting the question, “In the dead of winter, of all seasons?”

“Oh!” Ruby said, “Okay, so, we were assigned to kill a really big Grimm, which now that I think about it, might have been you, but then we got up and I sneezed and then that really big one attacked and – “

“You’re hunting me?” Teba asked, and Ruby paled a little at the unreadable tone in her voice, “Huh, never would have thought the Elder would have allowed this.”

“The Elder?” Ruby asked, tilting her head like a curious puppy, “Who’s that?”

“The chief of the village, of course!” Teba said, “I’m on decent terms with him, so as long as I don’t come near the village, he won’t get hunters to try and kill me. Correct me if I’m wrong, you guys seemed pretty young to be huntresses.”

“Oh yeah!” Ruby exclaimed, “Yeah, we’re not huntresses yet! We go to Beacon Academy, and this is one of the missions that was put on the board!”

“Beacon?” Teba asked, her tone once again unreadable, “Is Ozpin still there?”

“Huh? Yeah,” Ruby said, “Why?”

“When you return to the Academy, tell him an old friend says hello,” Teba said, as if the cryptic message would mean anything to the headmaster, “Trust me, he’ll know who you’re talking about.”

“Whoa, you knew Ozpin?” Ruby asked, “How?”

“Oh, he and I go way back,” Teba said, chuckling, “Before I became… this, of course.”

She gestured to herself, and Ruby felt sad for the Grimm-woman in front of her.

“Anyways,” Teba said, “Why’d the Elder want you to hunt me? We had a pretty good arrangement going, if you ask me.”

“I don’t know,” Ruby said, “The requester was a guy named Harold Fitzgerald – “

“Harold?” Teba asked, “Yeah, he doesn’t like me. Doesn’t like any Grimm, in fact. Who would, actually? I mean, they don’t have to like me, but I save the people who wander up the mountain, so they kind of need me.”

“Huh,” Ruby said, suddenly feeling tired, probably from the talking and bandage-changing, and she yawned, “Yeah, I’m probably going to go to bed now. Good night.”

She walked back in the direction of her bed, and there was a pause before she barely heard Teba whisper a good night in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by far the weirdest phone I've ever made was today when i asked my mom for a lemon for my shakespeare preformance

**Author's Note:**

> i am plus ultra gay fear me
> 
> plus rich text is so much better in every way


End file.
